


The Nature of Selenite

by FollowerofMercy



Series: Punch Buddies [4]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Adults being adults, Anger Management, Conversations, Garnet being a mom as usual, Gem Fusion, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, life advice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:13:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22182358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FollowerofMercy/pseuds/FollowerofMercy
Summary: Garnet coaches an angry new fusion. Continuation of Steven and Jasper's growing friendship.
Relationships: Garnet & Steven Universe, Jasper & Garnet, Jasper & Steven Universe
Series: Punch Buddies [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1596214
Comments: 23
Kudos: 190





	The Nature of Selenite

**Author's Note:**

> This is short but hey, it does what I want it to.

Garnet stepped off the warp pad, her glasses darkening in the blistering sun. A few Homeschool students had started tracking human news for gem-related disturbances as part of their final project and alerted her to a supposed monster rampaging in the desert.

Garnet glanced ahead to decide which direction to go. The South held potential for a confrontation, so that’s where she went.

She heard distant bellows far before she saw the dust cloud on the horizon. She sped into a leisurely jog once she had her goal in sight.

After an hour or so, she could make begin to make out the figure in the distance.

They were large, very large. Standing upright they would’ve matched Alexandrite in height, though they crawled along the ground like a centipede. At times they would rear up to stand on four limbs, their upper arms sheathed in pink light.

She could put words to the howling as she approached, soon realizing that her target was not a corrupted gem.

“-TO DEAL WITH THIS?”

As she approached, she saw that it had two short back legs, a sturdy pair of arms for the middle set of limbs and two lean, muscular arms set at the shoulders.

Their thick mane of hair lay like scales, reaching halfway down their back in sharp, pink-beige leaflets. Their skin was tan, patterned in brown striations. They wore a brown Quartz bodysuit with pink accents, specially molded to their unusual body type. 

They spun, dragging their lower half through a dune and sending up a spray of sand. “THERE’S NO POINT TO THIS!”

Leaflets of hair cut into their face. Two lines angled down over the eyes and two cut up from the jaw towards the cheekbones, giving their silhouette a star pattern and their face a perpetual scowl. A large gem served as their nose, set directly in the middle of four eyes.

“I SHOULD BE OVER THIS BY NOW!”

They howled, a familiar helmet manifesting on their head before morphing into a drill. The long, serpentine fusion reared up, then dove into the earth. They spun as they burrowed, quickly disappearing under the surface.

Garnet waited for them to emerge in an explosion of sand and dust. Their body coiled in a long spiral before thudding back to the earth, the sand giving way beneath their bulk. They finally caught sight of her as they erupted.

They froze, expression unreadable. “…Garnet.”

“Hello.”

They blinked, each pair of eyes closing separately, then hunched and bared their teeth. “What do you want?”

Garnet looked ahead to see what could happen, careful not to let her surprise show. In a select few cases, the fusion attacked her before running away. In others, they unfused, one component looking furious and the other stricken. She glanced down at the gem on the fusion’s stomach, Steven’s gem, and chose her words carefully.

“…Nothing.”

The fusion snorted, pawing at the ground. “Then why are you here?”

“I came to investigate reports of a corrupted gem running through the desert.” She gave them a once-over. “The reports were wrong, apparently.” 

The fusion laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. “Ah, so you came to hunt a monster, huh?”

They stood upright and sneered, casting their shadow over the smaller fusion. “Is that what I am?”

Garnet remained silent. This was quickly turning into one of the more unpleasant futures.

“Oh, I know what you’re going to say, what you’re thinking. I’m a bad fusion. A disgrace. I should _know better_.” The fusion turned away from her, bottom arms grabbing fistfuls of sand and letting it trickle through their fingers.

“You’re going to say that I’m an embarrassment, that this is wrong. Well you know what?!” They whipped back around, their nose gem mere feet from the unmoving Garnet. “You can take your ‘high and mighty wisdom’ and stuaaa-” The fusion groaned, their form wavering as the two halves wrestled over whether to speak.

They suddenly slammed their head into the sand, one part clearly winning the argument.

Garnet waited while they picked themselves up. They mumbled apologies and then sighed as they sat on their haunches, upper arms latticed in their first lap. Garnet sat down next to them, silently relieved.

“It’s alright. Tell me your name.”

“Selenite,” they said and spit. A little puff of dust sprouted from where the glob landed. 

“You don’t sound happy about it.”

“It’s a terrible name.”

“Hm. Well, Selenite _,_ that was _not_ what I was going to say.”

Selenite glared at her, fingers drumming on their forearm. They waited for her to continue.

“I can’t judge. I barely know you.”

“You can see the future. You know everything I could or would do.”

“Doesn’t mean I know where you’ve been.” Garnet leaned back in the sand.

Selenite squinted as she lay there, unmoving and serene. They envied her, or maybe they didn’t. Their components had wildly different opinions about this woman. At the very least, the more emotional part desired her approval. “So… you don’t think there’s anything wrong with me?”

“Not my place to decide right or wrong. That’s up to you.”

Selenite groaned and reared up, their marginally more sober part demanding action. They turned and obliterated a dune with a backhand fist, careful not to spray Garnet with the backlash. “AGH! Do you know what I am?!”

“You’re the fusion between Jasper and Steven.”

“I AM THEIR RAGE!” Selenite whipped back around and roared, spittle flying. “A MONSTER!”

“There is nothing wrong with anger,” Garnet said, quiet as she wiped her glasses on her stomach. “It is just a feeling. Only unchecked anger is bad.”

“I **AM** UNCHECKED ANGER!” They slammed their fist down a good distance away from Garnet.

“You’re in a desert.”

“SO?”

“This is not unchecked.” Garnet waved one hand around, copper band glinting in the sun. “Unchecked anger is rampaging through the city, assaulting your friends… poofing me. This is actually quite responsible.”

Selenite panted, slowly winding down, eyebrows knitted together. They shook their head, taking one side of their head in each hand. “No, no. I shouldn’t BE so angry. It’s bad that I feel this way…” Their eyes flicked up to her. “Right?”

“You won’t forever.” Garnet sat upright and risked patting the side of Selenite’s massive leg. They made no hostile move. “You are a necessary fusion. Sometimes growing is ugly. Messy.” She tilted her head. “Angry.”

Selenite chewed on their lip, their brown eyes looking off to the side and their golden eyes fixing her in an unnerving stare. “What else is there? What will I have left when I’m not angry?”

“That’s for you to find out.” Garnet stood and brushed herself off. “But it’s time I leave you two be. Steven, I am always here if you wish to talk. Jasper... Thank you.”

They thought for a moment, their head cocked to the side. “…You too, Garnet,” they both said.

Garnet left the conflicted fusion alone in the desert, satisfied they were no threat to themselves or others. Selenite watched her go, quiet for the first time since their creation. Once Garnet had disappeared over the horizon, they risked speaking.

“You know,” the Steven part whispered, one hand drawing patterns in the sand. “I know we’re doing the whole ‘rampage until we wear ourselves out’ thing, but she showed me a meditation technique that I haven’t done in a long time. Want to try it?”

“I guess it couldn’t hurt…” Selenite used another hand to erase the drawing. “But if I get bored we’re unfusing and I’m punching you in the face.”

“That’s fair.”

**Author's Note:**

> How on earth are you supposed to work Garnet's future vision in a narrative?!?
> 
> Anyway [here's concept art for Selenite](https://followerofmercy.tumblr.com/post/190171240879/followerofmercyart-updated-selenites-design-a) and [here they are in an outdated form with color](https://followerofmercy.tumblr.com/post/190150639439/followerofmercyart-heres-the-fusion-from-the)


End file.
